Tag: urban wood utilization

Add the Virginia Urban Forest Council to the growing list of organizations upping their game to promote the creation of local urban wood networks. The VUFC recently created the Virginia Urban Wood Group and developed an Urban Wood and Small Woodlot Forestry Business Directory for its websitevirginiatrees.org.

The directory allows businesses throughout the state to list their products and services including custom milling, drying kiln, lumber sales and custom made furniture. Users of the guide can search for specific products services either state wide or narrow their search to a single city to find a local source.

The Virginia Urban Wood Group was created to promote the improved marketing and utilization of urban and small acreage trees as a viable part of Virginia’s forest products economy. Goals of the Virginia Urban Wood Group include:

Utilizing outreach, education and innovative workforce development to assist in the development of small acreage service providers which can fill a contractor void between the arborist and the traditional production logger.

Seeking opportunities to fulfill the interest and management needs of small property landowners who have concerns over issues such as forest health, fire danger and the proper management of their woods, with the ultimate goal of aesthetically managing their small forested property.

The Urban Wood Network (UWN) appreciates your interest and would like to invite you to join us.

Free membership is being offered through May 31, 2018.

UWN partners have been dedicated to building urban wood businesses since the early 2000’s and united to promote and demonstrate urban wood utilization. Our mission is to inform, collaborate, and connect to build business and consumer confidence in the urban wood industry. Firstly, joining the urban wood movement means becoming a valuable link in the urban wood supply chain. And secondly, it means connecting with other efforts around the country. The more we position the industry as a cohesive group, the greater awareness we can bring to urban wood utilization and the better access we can provide to those who want to grow with it.

The Urban Wood Network is committed to work in partnership with the full diversity of industry stakeholders to build a common understanding, language, commitment, and eventually, brand for the urban wood marketplace.

If you currently belong to another organization whose primary goal is promoting urban wood utilization, we are interested in that organization partnering with us and becoming an UWN member. You would then be a part of UWN through that organization. If there isn’t such an organization in your state, then we welcome you as an UWN member and will assist you in building an organization in your state.

What does membership involve? To be an UWN member simply sign the attached agreement, if you agree with the tenets in the agreement. Because of the funding we have received from a USDA Forest Service grant, we are able to offer UWN membership at no cost through 6/30/18. UWN will continue to work on developing our network, organizational structure, dues structure, sponsorships, and member benefits with the plan to have UWN fully functional as a service organization by then.

Ash trees used to make up 12% of the urban forest canopy in Richmond Hill, ON, Canada. That’s before the emerald ash borer descended on the city killing thousands of trees over the last few years. The city has produced a pair of videos to educate residents about its fight against the pesky beetle. The video above illustrates some of the ways the town is repurposing its ash tree removals.

The video accessible from this link – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NY5i7TyNaKs&feature= – educates residents about Richmond HIll’s EAB Management Strategy. It details the EAB problem, how to detect a tree that has been infested and chemical treatments that can be used to keep an ash tree safe from infestation.

“We get a number of customers asking for reclaimed wood, and urban wood is another specialty item that has a nice story customers want,” Lepak said. “Urban wood flooring hasn’t been around for that long. In some cases, we introduce it to customers who have never heard of it before. We also offer urban wood availability to architects and design professionals in search of it.”

UrbanWoodExchange.org fosters creation of local networks to utilize felled community trees for lumber and wood products whenever possible.

Raleigh, NC — The Southeast Urban Wood Exchange continues to enroll a growing number of forest and wood product professionals who share the goal of putting urban tree removals to their highest possible use.

UrbanWoodExchange.org is a new clearinghouse for businesses ranging from professional tree care and removal services through sawyers, kiln dryers and lumber suppliers to connect and grow local urban wood networks. The Exchange features a searchable database that makes it easier for businesses to find potential urban wood partners in their area.

North Carolina has served as the pilot project of the new website created to encompass the 13 states located within the U.S. Forest Service Southern Region 8. Already dozens of businesses throughout North Carolina have posted business and product listings on the Exchange.

Underwritten through a grant from the U.S. Forest Service, qualified businesses can quickly list their products and services for free by logging onto UrbanWoodExchange.org. Product listings include Cut Logs, Milled Lumber and Firewood/Chips. Service listings include Arborists, Sawyers, Kiln Operators and Lumber Sellers.

An underlying mission of the Southeast Urban Wood Exchange is helping to facilitate the highest and best possible use of community trees at the end of their service. These trees are felled due to old age, insect infestation, storm damage, utility excavation and other circumstances. They are never meant to be removed solely for their wood value.

“Not every tree that is removed in the urban forest can yield lumber,” said Nancy Stairs, Ur”ban Forestry Program Coordinator of the North Carolina Forest Service (NCFS). “Yet, too many trees that could be milled are ending up in a landfill. The Southeast Urban Wood Exchange aims to help divert as many logs as possible and feasible from the waste stream by promoting the opportunity to convert them into value-added products. In some cases that means lumber or slabs, in others the best possible use is firewood or mulch. In any regard, better utilizing this resource is not only good for the environment, but for growing local economies.

“We hope and strongly encourage all businesses with a stake in the Southeast’s urban forests to get listed on the Exchange,” said added. “Working together we can build markets that offer woodworkers a unique source of wood supply and make it easier for environmentally-conscious private and public landowners to find professionals who can give trees that must come down a new life as furniture and other wood products.”

To learn more about Southeast Urban Wood Exchange and posting free business and product listings, visit UrbanWoodExchange.org.

#####

About the Urban Wood Exchange The Southeast Urban Wood Exchange is a free online directory of urban wood products and services administered by the North Carolina Forest Service.s Urban & Community Forestry Program and funded through the U.S. Forest Service Southern Region 8. Region 8 encompasses the following 13 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. For more information visit UrbanWoodExchange.org

The North Carolina Forest Service Urban & Community Forestry Program is organizing a workshop and networking event addressing the growing demand for locally sourced wood. The event one-day event is scheduled for Wednesday, July 26 at the Archie K. Davis Conference Center, in Research Triangle Park.

The organizers are encouraging all stakeholders from foresters and arborists through woodworkers and municipal managers to attend. The workshop will address the business case for small woodlot and urban wood utilization; challenges and solutions for diverting wood from landfills into high-quality products; and the branding and marketing potential for local materials and small businesses.

The workshop is sponsored by the North Carolina Forest Service Urban & Community Forestry Program, through funding from the USDA Forest Service, and in partnership with North Carolina State University and Dovetail Partners.

The Wood Education Resource Center’s (WERC) October 11 Urban Wood Utilization Webcast is available on demand.

The biannual program features presentations by urban wood representatives of urban wood networks in Illinois, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin. In addition to providing an update of urban wood activities in Illinois, Rich Christianson, communications director of the Illinois Wood Utilization Team, presented highlights of the successful urban wood seminar held at the International Woodworking Fair in Atlanta.

A new national directory dedicated to helping connect tree care professionals, sawyers, woodworkers and other urban wood enthusiasts was recently released by the Urban Forest Full Circle Network. The Urban Wood User’s Resource Guide made its formal debut at the Aug. 26 urban wood utilization seminar held during the International Woodworking Fair in Atlanta.

The guide includes 43 known national, regional, state and municipal sources of information. These sources include urban wood utilization networks, sawmill directories and more. Also included are links to seven publications focused on putting community, landscape and other non-commercial forest trees to their best and highest valued use after they are removed. These trees were felled by invasive pests, storms, development and other end-of-life causes.

The guide and the work of the Urban Forest Full Circle Network was made possible through grant funding provided by the USDA Forest Service Northeastern Area, an equal opportunity provider and employer.

The Urban Wood User’s Resource Guide is a work in progress and is subject to change without notice. This guide will be periodically updated. For listing consideration, contact info@illinoisurbanwood.org.

The Wood Education and Resource Center (WERC) in Princeton, VA, is an office of the U.S. Forest Service, Northeastern Area. WERC’s mission is to facilitate interaction and information exchange with the forest products industry to enhance opportunities for sustained forest products production in the eastern hardwood forest region of the United States. As part of its involvement with urban wood utilization, WERC conducts biannual conference calls that allow urban wood groups to exchange ideas and learn from one another. These conference calls are archived as webcasts on the WERC’s website.

The most recent webcast from April 2016 includes presentations on Tree Care Industry Association’s draft urban forest products standard; overview of mechanical harvesting of urban trees in Kenosha County, WI; updates from Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin; and an overview of Michigan State University’s Sustainable Wood Recovery Initiative.